The present invention relates to an input device including an assembly for scrolling an image in multiple directions relative to a display screen. More particularly, the present invention relates to a peripheral input device, such as a mouse or keyboard, that may be operatively connected to a host computer and includes a scroll wheel assembly that can move an image in multiple axes relative to a display screen.
Scroll wheels have been provided on computer mice and used by computer operators to move an image relative to a display screen of a host computer. A scroll wheel assembly includes a rotatable scroll wheel and a sensor that are typically included in a housing for a peripheral computer device such as a mouse. Typically, a portion of the scroll wheel protrudes upwardly out of an opening in its housing and is rotated in order to vertically scroll the image along the screen. An example of a mouse including a known scroll wheel assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,661, entitled xe2x80x9cZ-ENCODER MECHANISMxe2x80x9d which is hereby fully incorporated by reference.
Scrolling, as used herein, describe the movement of an image relative to a display screen in a particular direction as such term is commonly used in the art. For example, the term xe2x80x9cscroll downxe2x80x9d as used herein relates to moving the viewable contents of a file (such as a text document or image) relative to display screen by an amount to produce an effect of moving down in the document or image. Similarly, the terms scroll up, scroll left and scroll right relate to moving the viewable contents of a file relative to a screen by an amount to produce an effect of moving in the document or image up, left, and right, respectively. The term scrolling as used herein also includes panning, which is the automatic scrolling of an image.
In operation, a conventional scroll wheel is normally rotated about a first, transversely extending axis secured within a housing in order to scroll the image up and down (vertically) relative to the display screen. As the scroll wheel is rotated, an encoder senses the rotation of an encoder wheel and delivers a corresponding signal to a host computer which in turn can be used to move an image as is known in the art and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,661. This can occur without the user moving the position of the mouse and/or the cursor. However, many types of documents, such as spreadsheets, are usually wider than the width of the display screen and the user may want to scroll horizontally across the screen to see the entire file. When the user needs to move the image horizontally across the display screen, the user must typically stop what he or she is doing and perform a number of tedious and potentially frustrating steps. These include locating a graphical user interface in the form of a horizontal scroll bar usually located near the bottom of the display, positioning the cursor on the scroll bar, and then rotating the wheel. Locating the scroll bar can be very difficult for people with bad eyesight, small display screens and/or poor hand-eye coordination. As a result, the user will waste time and delay the completion of his project while fumbling to find the bottom horizontal scroll bar. These delays can cause the user great frustration and unnecessary stress that is magnified when he or she is operating under a deadline. Alternative graphically assisted tools for horizontal scrolling requiring cursor repositioning have similar drawbacks.
If the user does not accurately position the cursor over the horizontal scroll bar, the image will not scroll horizontally with respect to the display screen as he or she operates the mouse cursor of the graphical interface or rotates the mouse wheel. Instead, when using the mouse cursor on the graphical interface, nothing happens until he or she tries again to position the mouse cursor correctly on the scroll bar""s points of operation. Or, when using the mouse wheel, the image will move vertically relative to the display screen and erroneously change the displayed image. These errors will force the user to take additional steps to reposition the desired image on the display screen. These steps include the user confirming that the cursor is not positioned on the horizontal scroll bar and rotating the scroll wheel in the opposite direction to return the image to its previous position. Unfortunately, repositioning an image can lead to errors if the image is being amended. For example, the user may not return the image to its previous position. As a result, he may amend the wrong section of the image. Even if the proper image or portion of an image is returned to the display screen, the user must still attempt to locate the bottom, horizontal scroll bar a second time in order to finally move the image in a horizontal direction.
Microside Corporation of Miami, Fla., offers a xe2x80x9cMicro Scroll IIxe2x80x9d mouse that permits a user to scroll an image in multiple perpendicular directions. This mouse includes a first rotatable wheel for scrolling an image up and down, and a second, separate rotatable wheel for scrolling an image left and right. The rotatable wheels are oriented so they extend and rotate in planes that are perpendicular to each other. The two scroll wheels are independently operable. However, this arrangement has drawbacks as the two wheels takes up valuable upper surface area on the mouse which could be used for supporting the hand of the user or for additional input keys. Further, the two wheels have been made to be a small size to accommodate both wheels on the upper surface of the mouse. The smaller sized scroll wheels make the scrolling more difficult to control. Additionally, the location of the horizontal scroll wheel is inconvenient for effective control. Further, with this design, it is difficult to easily reach and manipulate one of the wheels, as he or she must reposition his or her hand on the mouse to avoid reaching without awkwardly finger manipulation.
One aspect of the present invention relates to a peripheral device for use with a computer to scroll an image relative to an image display screen along perpendicular axes. The device comprises a housing that has at least one opening. The device also comprises a scroll wheel assembly that is provided within the housing. The scroll wheel assembly includes a rotatable member positioned within the opening of the housing. The rotatable member is rotatable about an axis that extends within the housing and is laterally movable within the opening relative to the housing. The scroll wheel assembly also includes a movement sensing system that determines when the rotatable member is moved laterally relative to the housing.
Another aspect of the present invention includes a peripheral computer input device for scrolling an image across a display screen in perpendicular directions. The device includes a housing and a scroll wheel assembly. The scroll wheel assembly includes a rotatable member that is laterally movable relative to the housing and a sensor positioned within the housing for sensing lateral movement of the rotatable member. The device also includes a controller coupled to the sensor. The controller is configured to generate a signal to scroll the image across the display screen.
Another aspect of the present invention includes a computer input device for providing scrolling capabilities of an image relative to a display screen in first and second perpendicular scrolling directions. This computer input device includes a housing and a scroll wheel. The scroll wheel is rotatable relative to the housing about an axis to cause scrolling of the image in the first direction. Additionally, the scrolling wheel is displaceable relative to the housing to cause scrolling of the image in the second direction perpendicular to the first direction without the need for repositioning the peripheral device or repositioning the hand on the device.
The present invention also includes a method of scrolling an image relative to a display screen using an input device having a housing and a member that is rotatable relative to the housing. The method includes the step of laterally moving the rotatable member relative to a plane in which the member is rotatable. The method also includes the step of scrolling the image on the display screen in response to the laterally moving step.
The device according to the present invention makes it easy for a user to scroll an image both horizontally and vertically relative to a display screen without repositioning the peripheral device. Additionally, the different types of wheel movements used by the present invention to cause scrolling in the perpendicular directions eliminate problems and frustrations that may result from using the prior art devices.